Note about using Giotto's (Rocket blower)

[Persian-Rice]

Hey guys,

Today my Giotto's blower almost gave me a heart attack. Since my 10D has been out of commission, I thought that I should give it a nice scrub. So after cleaning everything, I grabbed the giotto's and gave the sensor a nice blast of air, but to my absolute disgust, I found out that there was a ton of what I am guessing is condensation inside the little rubber ball.

I might as well have spit on my sensor.

The thing looks like a mess, which is forcing me to spend even more money now that I am piss broke on a pec-pad and eclipse kit. I don't see anything on the images, but the sensor looks awful. I'm soo pissed off, the cleaner better clean this stuff off.

So as a warning, give you blower 10-15 sqeezes before you blow on your sensor.

First I took the wrong camera to a sports event at the start of the week, the AF on my second(dropped the first one)70-200 F4 has decided to die, and now this. It has not been my week.

Cheers

[cmM]

do you keep the blower in the freezer? :-P

I haven't had that happen to me yet.

[Turbowolf]

Did the same %$#^& thing two weeks after I got my DRebel last October. Coated the sensor, and the inside of the SLR mirror glass and the interior of the viewfinder plate. All cleaning did was to move it around inside the camera body and make more of a mess.

Took sending it in to Canon for it to really work right. Ever since I have avoided using a blower.

[Persian-Rice]

cmN, looking out the window, I think I do......
TurboWolf, were you using compressed air or Giotto's?

[Turbowolf]

TurboWolf, were you using compressed air or Giotto's?

Giotto's - which has long been filed in the junk drawer.

[thomascanty]

I haven't had that happen to me yet.

Me either. Despite frequent lens changes, I've been remarkably lucky when it comes to dust. I've only had to clean my 10D's sensor three times, using my Rocket. My 20D came with dust already "installed", but the Rocket made quick work of that too.

[kawter2]

My 20D came with dust already "installed", but the Rocket made quick work of that too.
Allmost fell out of my chair!!!! I love it!!

[bachscuttler]

I use air duster cans at work on the optics of Ricoh printers/copiers.
I always give a few good squirts into the air first as Persian says or you end up with a frozen white propellant everywhere.

I wouldn't dream of taking it anywhere near a camera of any level! :confused:

[Persian-Rice]

bachscuttler, A Giotto's is different, it's not really compressed air. What I got on my sensor is actually just water....

In terms of cleaning,
I didn't have any visible dust on the sensor, I just give it a blow once in a while since I interchange lenses very often. Mind you the 10D has been on hiatus. I have used the Giotto's a zillion times already with no problems, just got unlucky. I actually like it, it's like compressed air that lasts forever. We have dogs in my house, so this thing is used on more places then just my camera.

Just waiting for the cleaning stuff to come now :(...........made my own brush with a small spatula which looks like it will work well.

Cheers

[ScottE]

I don't trust any blower, any make. I always pump mine many times before putting it anywhere near my camera. Point it down, point it up, point it sideways and rotate it. I want to make certain that any dust, grit or moisture that have gotten into the thing are blown out before I use it.

Maybe I am over cautious, but I just hate the thought of having the blower shoot anything at the sensor.

[adamsti]

That is why ever since I bought my Rocket blower it has been sealed a Ziploc bag at all times when not in use. I have never had a problem.

[mjordan]

When you squeeze the bulb, it forces air out. When you let go of the bulb, it sucks air in... including any dust that is in the air near the nozzle. So by squeezing it a bunch of times before you use it, you are possibly also sucking in dust to be blown back out when you blow on your sensor.

This is where one of those coffee filters left over from the white balance tests comes in handy. use it to suck and pump a few times and it might filter out some of the dust. ;D

Mike

[PhotoManMike]

I tried a blower a few times but found that it just moved the dust around more than anything else. Also, I think I been getting some dust and stuff "glued" to the sensor by condensation that forms when I come in from the cold, and when the condensation evaporates, the stuff remains and the blower doesn't even move it. When you do eyepiece projection astrophotography at f/50 or higher, every piece of dust looks like a boulder in the image!

Anyway, I recently began using the "Copper Hill" method described here:

http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning

It definitely takes practice--It took me four attempts to get the frame looking pretty clear and streak-free the first time--but I think I'm getting better.

Good luck!
Mike

[dsze]

...I love my Rocket Blower. I use it not only on my sensor, in between swiping, but also on my lenses before I wipe them, on my camera body, on my CRT and Laptop screen and on my keyboards...I love it. ...never had a single problem with it.

-daniel

[boone]

The Giottos website says that the Rocket Blower "has an air valve to prevent it from breathing in dust...." But I'm not sure if that means that there's some sort of dust filter on the intake, or that it just won't suck in the dust on the blower end, since the intake is on the opposite end. I've been happy with mine so far.

[Persian-Rice]

All out sensor cleaning and Giotto's are very different concepts. Until this mishap occured, I never needed to wipe any of my sensors. I am not exactly sure how you guys manage to get your sensors so dirty............

Rocket blowers are for routine maintenance, swiping is when it has become an absolute mess.

I still recommend the Giotto's, just take all precautions, if it happened to me, it can happen to you.

[dsze]

Persian, Maybe I missed reading something, but just how did this happen with your Rocket? I've never had any condenstion (or even thought about it) in mine.

-daniel

[Persian-Rice]

Pulled it out of the bag, blew it and there was moisture in it. It spit a liquid out on the first hard sqeeze.

I don't get why it has left an ugly smudge on the sensor, but it did. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of how I handle the thing.